We had everyone at rock group last night and it was awesome! I led a lesson on ~worry~ and how we need to give our worries to God. I think the lesson went very well and we had some good conversations to go with it. We all have something to worry about don't we? But it is clear that God considers worry a sin. We have to learn to give God what we worry about and let Him do what He does best with it. We will do what God says, we will give God what we cannot do and we will trust God no matter what. I then asked the group to bless someone this week. Get the attention off ourselves and serve someone around them. When we focus on others, our problems seem smaller - little ME ~ big GOD.
Our kids study came from John 4. Here is that incredible conversation:
Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman
1The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4Now he had to go through Samaria. 5So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
11"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
13Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
15The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
16He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
17"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
19"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
21Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
25The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
26Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
THAT is such a great conversation that took place! I got asked lots of questions from the kids and it was fun explaining to the kids the scene that took place. I explained all I knew about wells and how folks would come to gather the water by lowering their pitcher down into the well by a rope and then carrying the pitcher on their heads back to their families and for their livestock - women did this work! Jews did not speak to Samaritans because of their lifestyles and this Samaritan woman came to the well mid day in the heat so that she did not have to be judged by the other women. When Jesus asked her for a drink of water she could not believe that a Jew was speaking to her. After a small conversation - she realized that He was "The Christ" that she had been reading and studying about. He told her everything about her past and she went and got everyone she knew and told them about Jesus.
I explained to the kids that God knows everything about them. He knows when we put things under our beds when mom or dad tells us to clean our rooms. We then inspected under Kyles bed and found a few things. I told them that He knows when we walk away from a friend who is being picked on at school, when we shed a tear or when we roll our eyes at mom when she asks for us to do something around the house or finish our homework. He knows when we are not giving our best. I explained to them the symbol for the rope this week was Jesus. I cut small sections of it and tied it around their wrists to remind them that we are tied to the other end of the living water that Jesus spoke about. He is with us always .... the kids were very excited to get this wrist band and some asked for a 2 or 3 of them.
It was a good lesson and there is nothing more exciting to me than to be investing in "MyKids". I have a friend here at work that has a friend whos son just left for Iraq. He is headed back and this will be his 5th turn. He has lots of friends there who would love to get a note or letter from home. I asked the kids to make them a card and to encourage them and thank them for serving and protecting our country. They made 18 cards for these soldiers and after looking at them - they did a great job! Hope they bring a smile to a soldier who needs one.
Have a great day everyone,
Lonnie~
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